


Guide Me Through The Storm

by Nerdy_fangirl_57



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alpha Derek Hale, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Spirit Guides, Alternate Universe - Tribal Setting, Angst with a Happy Ending, BAMF Erica Reyes, BAMF Stiles, Canon-Typical Violence, Full Shift Werewolves, Getting Together, Injury Recovery, M/M, Magical Stiles Stilinski, Magical Tattoos, POV Alternating, Slow Burn, Sterek Reverse Bang 2018, Stiles Stilinski Takes Care Of Derek Hale, Strangers to Lovers, Warning: Kate Argent, Werewolf Reveal, but this is fanfiction and I'm the author so I do what I want, totally inaccurate use of diction for this time period
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-22
Updated: 2018-07-25
Packaged: 2019-06-11 23:42:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 13,851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15327003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nerdy_fangirl_57/pseuds/Nerdy_fangirl_57
Summary: Stiles wasn't afraid to say the forest was more of a home to him that the village grounds his tribe lived on. Ever since he was a child he'd always been pulled by the forest and over the years the pull had only become stronger and more insistent. However, it wasn't until he stumbled upon a naked man near a creek that he started to understand what the meaning behind the pull was.





	1. Chapter 1

In… Two… Three… Four... Out… Two… Three… Four… In… Two… Three… Four... Out… Two… Three… Four...

Stiles doesn't remember how long he's been repeating those words in his head. It's a never ending cycle. A constant hum he feels deep in his core.

There's a therapeutic element to this, breathing in and out in while tuning in to the world around you.

Stiles remembers when he used to do this with his mom. When the both of them would go into the forest at night and just _breathe_ together.

Those are the moments he longs for most. The simple memories of sitting on her lap and trying to match her breaths. The memories of laying on the cool grass together looking at the night sky with his mom's voice telling tales of the stars and the trees and the wind and everything around them. The memories of them, just them, together.

There isn't a _them_ anymore. Now it's just him. Stiles Stilinski. Without her.

Stiles was suddenly assaulted by a ball of fur smacking his face. The previously calm atmosphere around him shattered as he flailed uncontrollably.

He glared at Katoa. The fox was now sitting right in front of him with a stupid grin plastered on his face and his translucent tail wrapped around him innocently as if it didn't just smack Stiles in the face.

“What was that for?!”

 _You_ **_know_ ** _what that was for._

Stiles sighed and rubbed his hands over his face. Yeah, he did know what that was for. “Sorry. It's hard to get out of my head sometimes.”

_I've been with you since you were 8, kit. I'm aware._

Stiles’ lips twitched upward. Katoa always knows how to get him out of his head. “Thanks Rudzielec.”

_Rude! After all these years, you still insult me like this. I can't believe I selected you as my Chosen._

Stiles snorts. “So dramatic. You know you love me.”

_I can't stand you._

“That's why you're sitting down.”

It wasn't even a second later when Stiles found himself on the ground with a very annoyed fox spirit on his chest.

 _And now you’re_ **_pinned_ ** _down._

Stiles can’t help but laugh at the sight of Katoa glaring at him. He can never take him seriously when he puffs up his fur like that.

Katoa shakes his head at Stiles’ antics and hops off his chest, making sure that his tail just so happens to whip Stiles in the face. Real mature.

Stiles is about to retaliate by tugging on Katoa’s tail but then he notices Katoa’s body language.

His entire body is stiff, standing tall with his ears up on high alert. He’s staring off into the far right of the clearing and before Stiles can spot what caught Katoa’s attention the fox sprints into the forest.

Stiles pushes himself off the ground and chases after Katoa. It takes approximately 3 seconds for Stiles to lose sight of him. How can he just disappear like that? You’d think a freaking magical translucent fox spirit would be easy to spot.

As Stiles runs aimlessly through the forest in, hopefully, the same general direction Katoa took off in, he tries to focus on everything around him.

Stiles may not be able to sense Katoa’s energy since it’s directly linked to the forest itself, but he _can_ sense what Katoa is going after. If he focuses enough.

It’s kind of hard to focus when you currently have no idea where you’re going but Stiles can do this. All he has to do is listen.

_“The forest speaks all the time. We just have to listen.”_

So, he does.

He listens.

He listens to the soft rustle of leaves swaying in the wind, to the melodious chirps of birds bouncing between branches, to the almost nonexistent change in the wind current, and to all the other microscopic clues the forest gives him.

Over the years Stiles has learned to decipher the forest’s hidden messages. What most people consider random changes caused by nothing but pure chance Stiles sees as the forest trying to speak to him. The forest isn’t a thing that just exists, it’s _alive_! It has a soul, a story, a _language_ … all you need to do is pay attention in order to notice.

Stiles closes his eyes and let’s the forest guide him as he runs through the damp soil.

In… Two… Three… Four… Out… Two… Three… Four…

There!

Stiles picks up his pace with a newfound determination. There’s a figure near a small creek that doesn’t quite fit in with the forest’s surrounding energy. That must be what Katoa ran after.

He can’t see it, but he can feel it. A large presence that hides behind the mist, connected enough with the forest to seem like it belongs there at first glance but under closer examination becomes clear that it is not a part of the forest.

Stiles sees Katoa standing on a small ledge staring at something in the distance. Stiles crouches down and slips through the thin trees to stand beside him. He grips his spear tightly and tries to see what Katoa is looking at.

The fog is dense around them and it’s hard to see anything past it. Then Stiles sees a glimmer of… _something_ below them.

Two little beads of light standing out from the fog surrounded by a thick darkness. Stiles couldn’t really make it out but just as he leans forward in hopes of a better look the figure bolts away.

This time it’s Stiles who chases after it. He promptly jumps from the small ledge, a small burst of pain shooting up his left leg as he lands on a particularly sharp rock, and sprints in the direction of the mysterious figure.

The fog makes everything twice as difficult as it needs to be and just when Stiles thinks he sees the large figure just up ahead it _vanishes._ Literally! Into thin air! How is that even possible?!

As Stiles’ internal rant of the absurdity of the situation continues, he trips

_BAHAHAHAHA!_

Stiles lifts himself up and tries to get the dirt off his hands. “Yeah, keep laughing you little Rudzi-”

Naked.

Right in front of Stiles there is man. On the ground. Naked. And looking just about ready to murder the entire world with his eyebrows.

“Uhh…” Stiles looks around for any sign of more naked men. Or women. Or just anything else in general to avoid looking at the guy in front of him. When he finds absolutely nothing he reluctantly looks back at the man lying on the ground.

Yep.

Still naked.

_You distracted, kit?_

Stiles glares at Katoa. “He’s naked!”

Even through all the mist Stiles can still see Katoa’s stupid smirk. Stiles wants to punch him.

“Great observation skills you have there.” says a voice that is far too sarcastic for Stiles’ liking.

The man before him is looking straight at him with bored eyes and a grumpy face. Stiles doesn’t appreciate that look, especially coming from a man who is literally naked on the forest ground! He is not in any position to judge Stiles, Stiles should be judging him!

And he is.

Very much.

So much judgement.

“Excuse me but I am not the one lying on the dirt completely naked trying to trip innocent bypassers!”

The man scowls. “I wasn’t trying to trip you.”

“Say that to my hands! They got all muddy because of you.”

“You sure it wasn’t because you’re an idiot and didn’t see where you were going?”

Stiles glares at him. “The fog is very dense today!”

_Yet you can drool over his body without any issues._

Stiles gasped and looked at Katoa in utter shock. “ _Katoa_!”

“What did he say?”

Stiles looks back at the naked man to find him looking at Katoa with an expression that Stiles can only describe as a mix between confusion and curiosity.

“He says you’re a weirdo that likes to trip unsuspecting people with your naked body.”

And there’s the scowl again. “Somehow I doubt that’s what he said.”

Stiles folded his arms over his chest and looked away. “Well believe it, Katoa’s an asshole.”

_Excuse you?_

The guy gave him a deadpan look. “Seems like you two have a lot in common then.”

Stiles is just about to spew on about how completely _offended_ he is and how if anyone is an asshole, it would be _him_ because Stiles could have died from that fall! _Died_! But then he notices how the man has stayed in the same position since the interaction started, hardly moving a muscle.

Now that Stiles takes a closer look, the man is covered in dark bruises and cuts. The worst of his injuries, however, are on his right leg. A deep gash moving down most of his thigh and covering his leg in a thick coat of blood. He’s pale, too pale, and now that he’s not talking Stiles can see how jagged his breaths are.

“You’re hurt.”

The guy rolls his eyes in an incredibly over exaggerated movement that involves his entire face. “Again with the great observation skills.”

This time Stiles rolls his eyes. “Just shut up and stay here. I’ll be right back.”

“What?” he calls out as Stiles starts making his way back to the village.

“Don’t move I’m going to get some supplies to patch you up.” Stiles yells over his shoulder.

He thinks the guy says something else but Stiles is already too far to hear him.

_Eager to get your hands on him, huh?_

Stiles trips and has absolutely nothing to blame it on but his useless legs and the forest air.

_HAHAHAHA!_

“Stupid Rudzielec.”

 

* * *

 

When Stiles makes it back to village grounds the sun is just barely peeking over the horizon. He knows he’s going to have to hurry if he doesn’t want his father to see him. The man wakes up at such ungodly hours.

Stiles quickly walks to the medic hut trying to make as little noise as possible. It’s a good thing Melissa and Scott don’t live in the medic hut like medics in other tribes or this little expedition would have been a whole lot more complicated.

After a few minutes of digging around Stiles finds everything he needs for the man’s wounds as well as some clothes that should fit him. Can’t have him just be naked forever.

Stiles leaves the medic hut, supplies gathered in his arms as he makes his way back into the forest when everything shatters into a million little pieces.

“Stiles?”

Why.

Why does this always happen.

He plasters a smile on his face and turns to see his dad looking at him, fully adorned in his chief attire. Stiles always thought the coat of black bear fur that hung from his shoulders and just barely dragged on the floor made him appear twice as big and intimidating.

“Hey dad! I’m guessing you’re on your way to take care of some chiefly duties this fine morning?”

His dad sighed and Stiles can’t say it doesn’t hurt that his dad looks so tired whenever Stiles opens his mouth. He’s really taking a toll on his dad.

“Stiles what are you doing.”

It doesn’t even sound like a question anymore, just a part of casual conversation.

Stiles tries not to think about it too much.

“Oh this?” Stiles says as he looks down at the numerous materials in his hands. “I found an injured monkey in the forest so I thought I’d help it heal a little bit. Poor thing really hurt his leg.”

His dad didn’t look too convinced. “And you’re going to give it clothes.”

Stiles didn’t miss a beat. “Of course! It’s a female and they like making nests, I thought some clothes would be more comfortable than just grass and leaves. She’s injured, she could use some luxury.”

His dad just stares at him for a moment, blinking, as if he was trying to understand Stiles’ thought process. Good luck with that.

“I’m worried.”

Okay. Not what Stiles was expecting right now. “What?”

“Stiles, you spend nearly the entire day in the forest. I haven’t seen you since high sun yesterday when you said you were going to gather water. I’m worried about you.”

Stiles felt a tinge of guilt rise up at his dad’s words. He didn’t mean to get side tracked like that, he really _was_ going to just gather more water and then come back, but then he felt the hum of the forest under his skin and everything was so peaceful he figured it wouldn’t hurt to meditate for a few minutes.

Guess he got carried away. Again.

“Sorry dad,” Stiles sighed, “It’s just so easy to get lost in the feeling of it all you know?”

His looked even more tired. “No, Stiles, I don’t.”

Right.

He doesn’t feel it.

No one does.

A solid warmth touches his shoulder. “But I know your mom always said the same thing.”

Stiles’ head snapped up, his mouth hanging slightly open. His dad rarely brought up his mom. It wasn’t a subject they usually talked about.

“I didn’t understand it when she talked about it and I don’t understand it when you talk about it either. I don’t think I’ll ever understand. But I understand that your connection with the forest is far deeper than mine will ever be, your marks prove that.”

Stiles glances down at the markings on his exposed arms. His entire body was covered in similar markings, intricate designs decorating his entire body symbolizing events he’s experienced.

The most obvious ones are the fox faces on each of his hands that appeared when Katoa selected his as his Chosen. But most of them aren’t obvious at all, to the point where only Stiles himself knows the meaning behind them and no one, not even his dad, have a clue as to what they might mean.

Sometimes they’ll shift. He’ll look down and notice that the lines aren't exactly making the same patterns as they were before. The ones his mom had also did that. She called them Lines of Fate.

Stiles doesn’t understand them very much but one thing his mother said always remains true.

_“They only shift when you choose a new path to walk.”_

And they did. The only time the lines shift is when something big happens and Stiles reacts to it. His mom used to say the Lines of Fate were a gift from the forest, only bestowed upon a select few.

Stiles doesn’t understand why these markings were given to him. He loves his marking but the way his mom used to talk about them made it seem like they were this huge honor given to them by the forest. He just doesn’t get why the forest would give them to him, what worth does he have? He’s nothing special. Not like his mom was.

It’s times like these when he wishes his mom was still here, everything would be so much clearer.

“I wish she was here.”

The words are out of his mouth and into the morning air before he could stop himself. He waits with bated breath for his dad to react.

The warmth disappears from his shoulder. “You should go take care of that injured monkey.” his voice is soft but the shakiness behind the words give away the emotions he’s trying to suppress.

Stiles forces a smile. “Yeah, guess I should.”

His dad nods stiffly and turns away, walking back to the village without looking back.

Stiles is left feeling numb.

Katoa nudging his legs. _Come on kit, he’s going to bleed out if we don’t start moving._

“Yeah.” Stiles says as he starts trekking through the forest.

_It’s okay to miss her._

“I know.” but the words and hollow and void of any real emotion. He knows it’s okay to miss her.

He just wishes his dad would know that too.

When they reach the small creek where they left the injured man they found that he was in worse shape than they originally thought.

Now that the fog was starting to clear up, they could see just how deep the injuries are. What looked like light cuts earlier are certainly going to need to be stitched shut in order to heal properly.

The man himself also looked worse than he did earlier. His skin was covered in a thin layer of sweat and grime and he must have passed out at some point after they left because his eyes haven’t so much as twitched since they arrived.

Stiles takes one of the many pieces of cloth he brought and dipped it in the creek. Slowly, his marks started to glow a pale blue, the light eventually reaching the water and soon enough the entire creek was glowing the same blue light as his markings.

After a few seconds Stiles starts to dab the wet cloth over all of cuts he finds on the man’s body. It’s a long process but he makes sure all the open wounds have been disinfected before moving on to cleaning off all the dirt and sweat.

Stiles is in the middle of cleaning the dirt from the man’s face when his eyes flutter open. Now that Stiles gets a good look at them he can’t find a color to compare it to. He finds greens, browns, blues, and even specks of gold swimming in those eyes. He’s never seen anything more beautiful.

“You came back?”

The raspy voice snapped him out of his small trance and he found himself under the scrutiny of two very confused looking eyebrows.

Stiles has no idea how eyebrows can show more emotion than someone’s entire face but this guy has it down to an art. “Yeah? I said I would didn’t I?”

There’s an almost unnoticeable tug at the corner of the man’s lips and Stiles has no idea how he managed to spot it. “I guess you did.”

His eyes close again but his face didn’t have the same tightness it had before, the slight lift at the corner of his lips still present.

Stiles continues to clean all the dirt off him.

Huh, he’s actually not an asshole when he’s half conscience. Who would have thought.

 

* * *

 

It’s been 3 days since Stiles met the naked guy in the forest, who later revealed his name to be Derek once he woke up for the second time. Stiles has fallen into a sort of routine in these few days: wake up, get some new bandage cloths for Derek, go to the creek, clean and rewrap Derek’s wounds, hunt something for both of them to eat, go back to the creek and eat with Derek, then come back to the village grounds before sunset.

Despite the strange circumstances Stiles finds himself looking forward to seeing Derek everyday. He’s the first person he’s ever really spoken to besides his dad and Scott in years.

He’s still a complete asshole though.

_Aw come on Stiles, you can’t still be mad at me._

“I can and I will.” Stiles grumbled as he maneuvered through the trees with ease.

_Stop pouting kit it wasn’t a big of a deal._

“First of all, I’m not pouting.”  

_Lies._

Stiles ignores him. “Second of all, it is so a big deal! You were snuggling him, _snuggling_ ! Right after I finished telling him you that you’ve only ever been affectionate with _me_. It’s like you’re trying make me look like an idiot.”

_You do that just fine on your own kit, besides, he’s very warm._

Stiles huffs but says nothing as he steps out of the foliage of the trees and into the clearing where his tribe lives.

The sun is starting to set and Stiles can see what appears to be the entire tribe sitting around a large fire. His eyebrows scrunch up in confusion.

The tribe doesn’t usually gather around to eat in a large group like this. Most of the time they all branch out into their family units and eat what they personally hunted and gathered.

Something was definitely going on.

As Stiles neared the fire he noticed that everyone was giving their full attention to people Stiles had never seen before.

They all wore dark furs that made them seamlessly camouflage with the darkness of night and scars that resembled claw marks proudly displayed on their bodies. There were 8 of them in total, 5 men and 3 women and while they all had an air of power around them it wasn’t hard for Stiles to single out the leader.

It was a woman with hair the shade of dead grass and deep claw marks going down her exposed left arm. Only Stiles had never seen a creature capable of causing such an injury, it looked more like 3 daggers sliced down her arm several inches apart at the same time.

It was unnerving.

“Stiles!”

Stiles is snapped out of his thoughts as his Scott eagerly calls him over to sit by his side. Stiles stiffly makes his way over to his best friend, making sure to put some extra distance as he moves past the intruders before finally sitting down by Scott’s side.

Which puts him directly across from the leader. The leader who is currently staring him down like he’s some sort of bird of prey caught in her trap. He tries to suppress the sickening shiver that travels down his spine.

As his dad continues to talk to the scarily intimidating woman next him about who knows what Stiles leans over to Scott. “Who are they?”

“Oh, they’re the Argent Tribe. I don’t remember all of their names but the woman talking to your dad is Kate, the man on her right is Chris I think, and the girl with the gorgeous dark hair is _Allison_.”

Stiles really doesn’t want to think about what that breathy little _Allison_ meant but he’d definitely appreciate knowing what the hell these people are here for. “What are they doing here?”

Scott doesn’t even seem to be listening to him as he stares longingly at Allison. “Hm? Oh, they’re here trying to hunt some wolves.”

Stiles’ head snapped to Scott. “What?!” His outburst earns a few glares and a lot of disapproving glances but Stiles doesn’t let it get to him as he lowers his voice and hisses at Scott. “What do you mean they’re here to hunt wolves?”

“Just what I said, they’re here to hunt wolves. Apparently their tribe was attacked by a pack of wolves and they’re the only survivors. They’ve been tracking the wolves for days now and they’re positive the wolves are hiding somewhere in the nearby forest. Your dad is trying to see what the best course of action is.”

The knowledge that his dad is handling things loosens the knots that had been steadily growing in Stiles’ chest.

It’s okay. His dad would never let these intruders just show up and do whatever they want. There’s no way he’d let them stay for such a horrible reason.

“I can’t believe my dad would _agree_ to this!” Stiles shouts in pure and utter rage as he and Scott collect more wood for the large fire.

Scott hums as he examines some fallen branches. “I don’t know Stiles, seems like the logical thing to do in this situation.”

Stiles freezes mid-step and gapes at his friend. “What?! Logical? How can you call this logical? It’s an outrage that’s what it is!”

“Stiles, those wolves nearly wiped out an entire tribe! Allison said her tribe had nearly 50 members and only 8 of them survived the attack. Don’t you think that qualifies those wolves as dangerous?”

“Wolves don’t just go around attacking people Scott.” Stiles huffs. “I don’t know what’s going on but I don’t trust them. That story about the wolves just attacking them out of nowhere and killing on a whim doesn’t make sense.”

Scott sighs and looks over at him. “Stiles, maybe you’re reading into this a little too much? I mean, they’re wild animals, they’re not supposed to make sense. And,” Scott closes his eyes and takes a deep breath before continuing. “there’s a reason no one ever gets a wolf as their guide.”

Stiles’ head snaps over to Scott’s fidgeting form. “Seriously? You’re giving the ‘wolves are cursed’ speech right now? You know that’s nothing but an old teller’s tale right?”

“I don’t know Stiles, I mean, there has to be _some_ truth to it right? It’s not like those stories come from thin air.”

“Are you seriously going to stand there and tell me you think there is truth behind a story about a wolf spirit who _ate their Chosen_ which resulted in the forest cursing the wolf to be mortal with only the ability to howl in order to express its eternal sorrow for its dead Chosen? Who turns into the moon by the way. You know, in case you forgot. That the supposedly dead Chosen becomes the _moon_.”

Scott groans in frustration. “Okay, I get it! The story is far fetched but _come on_ Stiles. You have a fox spirit right next to you! You have magic tattoos that glow! You can supposedly _hear_ the forest! So maybe no one turned into the moon, okay, I understand that, but there must be _some_ semblance of truth behind the story.”

Stiles turns away from Scott and continues to pick up dead branches for the fire. He sees what Scott means by the story not being too hard to believe but Stiles just doesn’t buy it.

Spirits don’t go around selecting Chosens to kill some spare time. The bond between a spirit and their Chosen isn’t like any bond humans can experience on their own. Both spirit and Chosen mold into one. Not physically, but spiritually.

Katoa once told him it was like, he gave Stiles part of himself the day he chose him as his Chosen. He said the bond between spirit and Chosen was a mutually beneficial agreement.

Spirits usually select people who are in need of something their tribe is unable to provide. It could be something physical, like being born unable to see, or something psychological, like having unexplainable moments of pure terror.

For Stiles, it wasn’t anything extreme. He’d always been a restless child, always struggled focusing on something for more than a few seconds. It wasn’t as major as what other Chosens experienced and sometimes Stiles wondered why he was a Chosen and not Scott.

Scott had trouble breathing growing up and while it’s gotten better over the years he still isn’t able to do much labor without triggering an attack.

Katoa always told him that emotional need isn’t outweighed by physical need and that although Scott may be more outwardly struggling than Stiles doesn’t mean he needs Katoa more than Stiles.

_Don’t forget I liked you a lot more._

Stiles smiled. Somehow Katoa always knew when to butt into his head.

_You’re my Chosen, don’t act like I don’t know you by now kit._

“Still,” Stiles says after a few moments of silence have settled between him and Scott, “I don’t trust them, and I _definitely_ don’t want them barging into the forest and slaughtering wolves.”

“Fine.” Scott sighs. “You don’t have to trust them or agree with them, just-” he sighs again, looking at Stiles with concerned eyes, “just don’t do anything reckless.”

Stiles nods and him and Scott go back to the village grounds with their arms full of fallen branches. They walked in silence and although Stiles agreed to not do anything reckless, they both knew that agreement wasn’t going to last long.

 

* * *

 

It’s been a few days since Derek met Stiles.

He… he still didn’t really know what to make of their relationship. Not that they had a relationship of course, just, their, situation. Yeah, that’s the word.

Situation.

Not relationship.

Situation.

They weren’t even supposed to meet. When Derek realized he’d been spotted by a human despite all the dense fog he ran as fast as he could to get him off his tail.

But the injury he got on his hind leg made it nearly impossible to walk let alone run. He knew he had to do something before the human caught up to him so he did the one thing he could do.

He shifted and hoped the human wouldn’t find him.

It took mere seconds for that plan to shatter into a million pieces.

Still, Derek can’t say meeting Stiles was necessarily bad. Definitely not _ideal_ but… not bad.

Stiles is strange. An anomaly Derek can’t quite figure out.

He just didn’t get it. Stiles and him clearly didn’t get off to a great start and yet the moment Stiles saw that Derek was injured he dropped everything and started helping him.

Not even the villagers in Boyd’s childhood tribe would do that for a complete stranger and they were by far the kindest humans Derek had ever met.

Then again Stiles wasn’t exactly a normal human. He was definitely human there was no doubt about that, Derek would have smelled it if that wasn’t the case. But Stiles was a magic welder. A human magic welder.

Derek didn’t notice it during their first encounter but looking back at it now Stiles clearly had a mystical aura around him. Maybe it was the intricate tattoos covering his body but there was a distinct powerful presence around him.

It’s weird. No one would ever think that _Stiles_ someone so skinny and restless and hell Derek would even go as far to say _defenseless_ could have an air of power surrounding him but he did.

Derek only grew more perplexed the longer he thought about it. Stiles was just… _Stiles_.

_Snap!_

Derek rolled his eyes and turned his head to look at Stiles walking over to him. Even if Derek has smelled him coming for a while Stiles never missing an opportunity to be loud.

There’s something off about his scent though. Derek noticed it before but now that Stiles is close he can pinpoint what it is.

Anger.

But it doesn’t burn Derek’s nose like it usually would. This isn’t the scent of someone ready to throw a punch at the next thing they see. Stiles is definitely angry though, and Derek isn’t sure how to handle the situation.

He decides to not think about it too much.

“What’s wrong?” Derek asks once Stiles sits down across from where he’s sitting against a tree.

Stiles starts unwrapping the old bandage cloths from Derek leg. “Why do you think something’s wrong?”

“I could hear you stomping for a solid minute before I could see you. You’re loud but you’re not _that_ loud.” Derek hissed when Stiles put a wet cloth on the wound. It was healing nicely but the traces of wolfsbane the arrowheads injected into his system were slowing the healing process enough for the wound to still be open. “So what happened?”

Stiles doesn’t answer as he continues to meticulously clean out Derek’s wound. His tattoos are glowing a dim blue color, not as bright as how it looks whenever Stiles puts the cloths in the creek to clean them but the sight entrances Derek all the same.

There’s just something about them that seems almost hypnotic. They cover nearly every inch of Stiles’ bare arms, only the very tips of his fingers fail to be marked with the designs and Derek can see even more markings peeking out from Stiles’ shirt which suggests even more marking under the clothing.

Derek wonders what kind of designs are hidden under there.

“Outsiders.”

Derek blinks and his eyes shift from the soft glowing blue patterns marking Stiles’ neck to his face. Stiles isn’t looking at him, instead he’s carefully wrapping up Derek’s wound in a clean cloth. It takes him a moment to register what Stiles just said.

“What?”

Stiles’ eyes flicker to Derek’s face before returning their gaze to his wound. “Outsiders. That’s what happened. They’ve apparently convinced my dad that letting them stay is a good idea.”

Derek raised an eyebrow at that. “That’s it? I didn’t think you had an issue with strangers.”

“It’s not the strangers part that bothers me.” Stiles mumbled. “It’s what they plan on doing that has me on edge.”

“What do they plan on doing?”

There was a stiffness to Stiles muscles at the question, a tightness that wasn’t there before. His face was carefully blank but his eyes held a storm inside them. Derek didn’t think Stiles was capable of such a look.

“They want to hunt down wolves.”

Derek’s stomach drops. “What.”

“They want to hunt down a pack of wolves!” Stiles says, irritation clear in his voice. “They claim to have been attacked by wolves and now the majority of their tribe is dead and they want revenge. Which is _stupid_ because if there story of a wolf pack strong enough to nearly wipe out an entire tribe is true then there’s no way they can really think 8 of them can take out those wolves.”

No. No no no no no. This can’t be happening. There’s no way the Argents found them so soon.

They were so _careful_ in trying to leave as little evidence behind them.

If the Argents already know they’re in the area then it’s only a matter of time before they find them.

They’re all sitting ducks out here if they stay split up like this and in his human form Derek’s connection to the pack is barely above nonexistent. He needs to shift into his wolf form to be able to sense where everyone was but there was no way he could do that with Stiles around.

If the Argents really are here then the last thing Derek wants to do is reveal what he is to Stiles. He would probably panic and lead the Argents straight to him.

“Not to mention wolves don’t go around killing tribes for the fun of it. If a wolf pack really did attack them, then they must have done something to provoke them and-”

“Why do you care?” It comes out a lot sharper than what Derek had intended but he can’t find it in himself to feel bad about it. “About the wolves.” Derek says once he sees the confusion on Stiles’ face. “Why do you care what they do to the wolves.”

Stiles leans back as he finished wrapping Derek’s leg. “Wolves aren’t evil.”

Deek blinks. That… that was not the answer he was expecting,

Stiles must have seen the need for an explaining on his face because he continues.

“Most people think wolves are vicious predators filled with bloodlust but that’s not how they are at all.” Stiles explains. “They are intelligent and loyal and they can be so gentle when they want to be. They aren’t the mindless monsters people make them out to be.”

The way Stiles’ voice softens the longer he speaks makes Derek feel like there’s something there. Something deeper.

“How do you know that?”

Stiles sighs, not looking at him. “You’re going to think I’m crazy.”

“Try me.”

Stiles looks at him at that. Derek can see the internal struggle within those honey colored eyes. It doesn’t take long for Stiles to relent.

He opens his mouth and closes it again like he can’t seem to the find the right way to go about explaining it. Several moments pass before Stiles starts speaking.

“My mom passed away when I was little.” Stiles paused.

Derek gives him a small smile in an attempt to encourage him to continue. He knows what that’s like.

“Before she passed we used to spend a lot of time in the forest together and I always saw it as a place of comfort. So, the day she died, I ran straight into the forest. I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going or what was around me, I just ran.” Stiles huffed a soft breath and shook his head at the memory. “It didn’t take long for me to get lost.

Yeah, Derek can see that happening. Stiles seemed like the type of kd to get lost in the woods.

“When I realized I had no idea where I was obvious got really scared and started to panic but… but then this black wolf came out of nowhere and just… lead me away from there and into a small clearing. It was the same clearing me and my mom would go to so I instantly perk up.”

Wait. That sounded strangely familiar but, no, there’s no way.

“After that the wolf must have thought I was hungry or something because it came back with a dead rabbit between its teeth and places it in front of me. That should have probably been the end of it but I was a stubborn kid and I made it my mission to pay the wolf back, so, I managed to hunt a rabbit and offered it to the wolf when I saw it in the clearing the following day.”

This is a coincidence. A huge and unbelievable coincidence. There’s just no _way_.

“I guess the wolf felt the same way because the day after _that_ he came back with another rabbit. Then it sort of became a little thing we did, we would hunt for each other and meet up at the clearing. It went on for weeks but, one day, the wolf stopped showing up. I don’t know if something happened to him, but I like to think he’s okay somewhere. Anyway,” Stiles said with a shug, “that’s why I care. If wolves were such heartless beasts, then they wouldn’t be capable of doing all that. That wolf comforted me more than my own tribe at the time, if that’s a monster, then people don’t know the meaning of the word.”

Derek can’t believe it. Stiles, the same Stiles who is currently covered in magical tattoos and has been looking after Derek’s injuries for days is _Mieczyslaw_?!

Derek tries to keep the shock from showing in his face but this is too surreal. The little boy Derek befriended weeks before the fire is right in front of him after all this time. 

It's hard to think that the small little boy covered in moles and that talked a mile a minute could actually be all grown up now. Realistically, Derek knew the boy had to have grown up by now considering he himself was no older than a pup when they met and his wolf form was only about the size of a regular wolf at the time. Still, it was hard to believe that the boy with the biggest, brightest smile he'd ever seen and who'd tell Derek all his problems was really right here.

Covered in tattoos.

Derek didn't remember Mieczyslaw having any form of markings on his skin and he certainly didn't remember him being a magic welder. However, looking at Stiles now, he can pick out the similarities. 

For one they were both insanely talkative. Derek still can't believe someone could talk as much as he does.

Stiles definitely grew into his long limbs and the tattoos cover most of his moles but now that Derek is looking for them he can see them dotting his pale skin, just a shade darker than the marks over them.

His face is much more defined but his unique features are the same. He still has the same cupid bow lips that stretch into a smile that can outshine the sun, the same tousled brown hair that sticks up in all directions, the same upturned nose that scrunches up whenever he concentrates really hard on something, and the same big brown doe eyes that showed every emotion he was feeling.

Derek felt his lips curl upward at the sight. Yeah, Mieczyslawgrew up very nicely.

 

* * *

 

It’s been a full 2 days since Kate and the rest of her tribe arrived at this poor excuse of a village and everything has been going according to plan. Except they had one little nuisance that has been annoying Kate since she got here.

The chief’s son.

Even after the rest of the village knew to stay clear of the forest to ensure their safety from the beasts this kid down right refused to listen. He would go into the forest early in the morning and wouldn’t return until near nightfall. Normally, Kate couldn’t care less about the kid but the fact that he always returns from the forest unharmed is starting to put doubts in some people’s heads.

That’s why today she’s going to make sure he doesn’t come back from the forest unharmed, and if she’s lucky, he won’t come back from the forest at all.

Eventually, Kate sees the kid and that little orange blur of light leave the main hut and walk towards the forest. She’ll never understand how people can see these so called ‘Chosens’ as anything but the weaklings they are will never fail to astound her.

There is a person who needs a little ball of light following them around to help them survive and some tribes see it as an honor? They are practically praising weakness and codependence. Only the strongest survive and anyone with a random spirit following them around all day telling them what to do is clearly not going to make it very far.

They should just kill them once the dumb spirit appears instead of prolonging the inevitable.

And it looks like the inevitable has finally caught up with the chief's irritating son.

With a smile stitched on her face Kate walks over to the retreating boy. “Stiles,” the jump she receives from him puts a gleam in her eyes. Oh what she’d do to hear his screams. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you.”

Stiles looks her over warily as he takes a few steps back. “What do you want?”

Kate places her hand on his arm, he tries to pull away but her grip only tightens. “I just want to talk.” she rubs her hand up and down his arm, “You know, it’s very dangerous to go to the forest now. I’m glad nothing has happened to you so far but I don’t want to risk something happening to you.”

She takes the opportunity to run her fingers through his hair since he currently has his hood down. The shock on his face is truly delightful. “Those beasts could really hurt you.”

Those words seem to knock him out of his frozen form and he rips himself away from Kate’s grasp. The glare he sends her is adorable. “The only beast here, is _you_.”

Kate watches as he disappears into the forest. The second those beasts get a whiff of her scent all over him they’ll chase him down and completely _devour_ him. Leaving only a mangled body behind for her and a very distraught chief to find.

Those beasts will do all the work for her.


	2. Chapter 2

Derek’s eyes snapped open.

Ash and roses.

He blinked, trying to clear the fog of waking up by rubbing his hands over his face.

Ash and roses.

Derek became increasingly frantic with every passing second. He scrambled over to creek just a few feet from him and splashed water on himself in an attempt to wake him up.

Ash and roses.

He forcefully blew air out his nose while shaking his head in growing panic.

Ash and roses.

A whine crawls out of his throat, pathetic and small and full of _fear_.

Ash and roses.

Derek can feel his fangs prodding at his lower lip with the promise of blood.

Ash and roses.

His hands shoot up to his face once more, pulling on the dark strands of hair.

Ash and roses.

Blunt nails are slowly replaced by sharp claws.

Ash and roses.

His eyes open by their own accord and Derek stares at the pathetic sight before him. Alpha eyes, wide in panic, attached to a face that can only be described as pure terror.

Ash and roses.

Derek’s eyes shut tightly.

Ash and roses.

He’s pathetic.

Ash and roses.

He’s a disgrace.

Ash and roses.

He’s not an alpha.

Ash and roses.

He’s not Laura.

Ash and roses.

He just wants it to _stop_.

Something emerges from the trees. Derek can’t see it. Derek can’t see _anything_.

Everything is black.

Everything is gone.

Everything but _ash and roses_.

Derek’s eyes snap open with a thunderous growl.

The target stops.

Muscles shift. Joints pop. Bones crack. Skin becomes fur. Eyes stay on target.

“Derek?”

That voice.

“It’s- it’s okay Derek. I’m not going to hurt you.”

He knows that voice. It isn’t _hers_ but he can’t make out where he’s heard it before. Everything is a haze besides that damn scent.

Growls fill the air and he finds himself stalking toward the target.

The target stumbles back. “Derek?”

The smell of fear reaches his nose.

_Good_.

The target falls. They must have gotten a cut somewhere because suddenly the scent of blood mixes with the previous smells of ash, roses, and fear.

Only the blood isn’t a concentrated mix of ash, roses, and copper. It’s a new scent all together.

Morning mist, fallen leaves, and hazelnut combined with the ever present coppery smell of blood.

_Stiles_!

In an instant Derek backed away until his hind legs met the water of the creek. Now that the smell of ash and roses were being overshadowed by the scent of _Stiles_ the fog in his mind started to clear out and everything came into focus.

Stiles was still on the ground, eyes wide open and starring, with a cut on the palm of his left hand that he must have gotten by scraping it against a rock during the fall.

Derek starts to back away again.

He can’t believe this is happening.

He shifted in front of Stiles.

He growled at Stiles.

He nearly _attacked_ Stiles.

A whine escapes his throat, one that Derek would usually be ashamed of, but he can’t bothered to right now. He could’ve hurt Stiles.

“Hey, it’s okay,” Stiles says in a hushed voice, gently shushing him when more pitiful whines are ripped out of his throat, “it’s okay.”

Stiles is standing only a few feet away from him at the moment and Derek is left to wonder how he didn’t notice Stiles making his way over to him sooner.

Stiles looks straight into his eyes. The same eyes that Derek knows are glowing a deep crimson red. The same eyes that were ready to tear him to shreds only mere moments ago.

“I’m not going to hurt you big guy.”

_But I’m going to hurt_ **_you_ ** _._

And with that thought, Derek bolts.

He runs into the deep foliage of the forest, away from the small area beside the creek that he’d been staying in for the past few days, away from Stiles.

He can hear Stiles shouting for him to wait, to stop, to come back.

Derek doesn’t listen.

Instead he just pushes himself to run even faster in hopes that Stiles will give up on chasing him down and turn back.

His leg still isn’t completely healed yet. There’s a dull pain that only intensifies the longer he runs but it’s nothing compared to how it was before he met Stiles.

The thought only makes him run faster.

 

* * *

 

It takes about 10 seconds for Stiles to completely lose sight of Derek.

It takes about 5 minutes for Stiles to lose _himself_.

_You have any idea where you’re going kit?_

“No.” Stiles says in between pants.

He doesn’t recognize this part of the forest. He’s running blind.

_Stiles. Focus. You need to concentrate if you want to find him._

Stiles purses his lips in frustration. He _knows_ that. It’s just- it’s hard to listen when your mind is going 20 miles a second in millions of different directions.

It’s overwhelming. A billion ideas are racing through his mind each with multiple outcomes and all progressively getting darker and darker and Stiles needs to _find him_.

_Breathe, kit. You need to breathe._

So that’s what Stiles did. He breathed. But taking a deep breath while running isn’t as relaxing as Katoa thinks it is and the large intake of air makes Stiles’ throat to burn and he soon finds himself coming to a halt as he has a coughing fit.

After a solid minute of coughing up a lung Stiles tries to catch his breath.

_You should’ve breathed._

Stiles glares at him over his shoulder but he knows Katoa is smirking at him.

Once his heart rate is back to normal Stiles decides that the fastest way to find Derek is using a few tricks he’s learned over the years.

Katoa must have read his mind because was in front of Stiles in an instant.

_You sure about this? You know how much energy it takes out of you._

Katoa’s right, obviously. Stiles could barely stand the last time he used his magic to pinpoint something’s location. But that was a risk Stiles was willing to take.

Stiles focused on centering himself.

In… Two… Three… Four… Out… Two… Three… Four…

He closed his eyes and could feel the light seeping from his markings. He knew they were glowing a pure white light.

When he opened his eyes, everything was grey, devoid of all color and muted of all sound.

Stiles grained the image of Derek in his head. Large wolf, dark fur, glowing red eyes.

He walked forward, eyes scanning the area for that pop of red that he was searching for.

Large wolf, dark fur, red eyes.

Stiles kept looking through the sea of grey.

Large wolf, dark fur, red eyes.

Everything started to muddle into a grey blur.

_No_!

His time was running out but he still had no clue where Derek could be.

Large wolf, dark fur, red eyes.

He kept searching.

Large wolf, dark fur, red eyes.

Stiles just needed a second! A split second of seeing those glowing eyes to know where he was.

Large wolf, dark fur, red eyes.

The blur slowly melts into a fog, drifting further and further from reality.

Large wolf, dark fur, red eyes.

He just needs a _second_ ! One second to spot red just _one_!

The silence slowly starts turning into static that are sure to leave Stiles’ ears ringing if it doesn’t stop soon.

Red eyes.

Just red eyes.

That’s all Stiles need.

Just red.

The ringing gets louder the fog becomes nothing but a grey canvas.

Stiles is spinning as he runs, still searching.

Just one freaking _second_!

Stiles falls, back hitting the hard ground. The static is now unbearable, the grey canvas is now white, and just as Stiles is about to close his eyes, he spots it.

_Red_.

Stiles comes back to reality with a gasp. His ears are ringing and he’s currently on his knees, gasping for breath as if he had just surfaced from being underwater.

But he did it. He found Derek. He knew exactly where he was.

Stiles struggled back onto his feet. His legs were shaking and his knees were seconds away from buckling under him, his arms felt like a load of metal attached to his body, and his head left like it was going to crack open with how hard his brain was throbbing.

But he ignored the pain and pushed his body into a jog.

_Stiles? Stiles what are you doing? You can’t overexert yourself like this._

Stiles didn’t respond. He didn’t think he could. It felt like if he tried to do anything more than what he was already pushing his body to do he’d crumble into nothing but dust.

He has no idea how long it took him to reach where Derek was but when he finally reached the large stump of what must have been an enormous tree he almost collapsed from exhaustion.

Then he saw the wolf that was currently looking at him from their position on top of said stump.

Large wolf, dark fur, red eyes.

But… not Derek.

This wolf had dark fur, but not the same pitch black coat that Derek did. This wasn’t Derek.

The wolf stood up from its previously seated position and hopped off the stump.

The wolf was looming over him, probably a full 2 feet taller than Stiles, when everything went black.

.

.

.

The first thing Stiles saw when he woke up was the magnitude of stars decorating the night sky.

He always liked the stars. They were pretty and made him feel at ease. Sometimes he wondered what it would feel like to look down at the world instead of up. He wondered if his mom was looking down… if they were looking at each other right in this moment…

“I see you’re awake.”

Stiles turns at the sound of a voice he has never heard before to find an older woman smiling at him.

He tries to get up but a hand hold him back and pushes him back down. Stiles turns to his other side and discovers that the hand belongs to a girl around his age with golden hair and dark eyes.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” she says, “You pulled quite the stunt back there.”

Stiles brows pinch in confusion and his eyes naturally turn back to the older woman for some sort of elaboration.

The woman calmly walks over to him and sits down beside him. “That spell you cast is not to be taken lightly. It splits your consciousness in two, one that stays with your physical form and one that leaves in search of what you are looking for. The longer the halves are apart the greater the toll on your physical form.”

She gives him a pointed look. “You’re lucky you didn’t endure more serious consequences by not allowing your body to rest properly after using such magic.”

_What did I tell you? I told you to stop didn’t I? I did, and did you listen? No! No you didn’t, because you never listen to me even though I am always right. You should listen to me next time so you don’t, oh I don’t know,_ **_die_ ** _!_

Stiles groans and drapes his right arm over his eyes. Katoa isn’t helping the throbbing in his head to subside in any way, shape, or form.

He hears the girl next to him huff in amusement and he can hear the massive grin that must be on her face as she says, “Is your fox telling you how much of an idiot you are?”

Stiles just groans again which makes her chuckle.

The older woman speaks up again. “Your spirit was very worried. You two have a strong bond.”

“More like he has a strong desire to lecture me.” Stiles grumbles.

_EXCUSE YOU!_

He groans again. “You’re not helping.”

The woman chuckles. “I see you’re just as spirited as your mother.”

Stiles’ head snapped to the woman beside him so fast he’s surprised his neck doesn’t break, “What?”

She offers him a kind smile. “I’m Satomi,” she says while looking him straight in the eyes, “I suppose you have a few questions about our kind?”

Her eyes flash red for the briefest of seconds.

She must have been the wolf he found instead of Derek.

‘A few questions.’

That was the understatement of the century.

 

* * *

 

Derek was finally able to stop running when he reached a clearing with a shallow river running through it. He walked towards it and greedily started lapping up the water.

He hadn’t noticed how incredibly thirsty he was until he felt the cool water trickle down his throat.

He doesn’t know exactly how long he stayed there like that but before long his moment of bliss was rudely interrupted.

“Derek Hale where have you been?!”

Derek turns to see a very angry banshee accompanied by 3 visible disgruntled wolves.

“We spent _days_ looking for you! We were starting to think you were captured and unable to go into your full shift and now you just appear out of nowhere and don’t even greet your pack members? What kind of alpha are you?!”

Derek huffs in amusement and licks the side of her face.

She makes a show of being both offended and disgusted as she makes her way over to the river to splash water on her face but Derek can see the underlying fondness in her expression.

Lydia has always held a special place in Derek’s heart. Her family has been a part of the Hale Pack for generations and it was nice having someone around his age that wasn’t a wolf but a member of the pack all the same.

She’s always been a secure and stable presence for Derek throughout the years even if she was more Laura’s friend than his.

If Derek hadn’t known her his entire life then he would probably think she had moved on from Laura’s passing a few weeks ago. That couldn’t be farther from the truth though. It’s clear in her body language that she’s still on high alert, ready to fight at a moment’s notice, and if her physical tells aren’t enough she was completely drenched in the smell of sorrow.

They all were.

Derek looked back at the 3 wolves before him.

Peter, Isaac, and Boyd.

The only 3 remaining wolves beside himself that make up the Hale Pack.

First he greets Peter. His usually shining grey fur was matted and covered in streaks of dirt that left Derek wondering how long it would take before he sprinted into the river and cleansed his fur until it appeared nearly white.

Next was Boyd. His dark brown fur was rough but then again he’d always had a harsher coat compared to Derek’s silky one. He’s glad to have him here. Boyd had quickly become his best friend growing up, the person Derek could confine in and always count on when things became increasingly difficult to handle.

Derek doesn’t know what he would have done if him and his mom hadn’t stumbled across an orphaned Boyd in the last stages of hyperthermia that one winter night all those years ago. Or how Derek would have gotten passed the grief of losing almost everything he cared about if Boyd had not survived the bite.

Lastly, he greets Isaac. He’s the newest addition to the pack and judging by the way that he looks physically scrawnier Derek guesses he hasn’t eaten much -if anything- since they lost Laura.

Derek feels guilty over not reuniting with them sooner after they were all separated in their attempt to get the Argents off their trail. Laura was the one that turned Isaac three years ago and although they all suffer greatly from losing their alpha Isaac’s the most physically affected by it.

Derek doesn’t specifically know what Isaac must be experiencing since born wolves and turned wolves don’t feel pack bonds in the same way but he remembers a few things his father used to tell him since he was a turned wolf.

He would say that born wolves and turned wolves experience two halves of the same burden.

Born wolves carried the emotional pain, making the loss of a pack member feel like a piece of their soul died with them, with nothing to fill the empty void but grief and sorrow and a bone deep emptiness that left you struggling to get by.

Turned wolves however, held the physical pain. His father explained it as if each pack member was represented by a string tied to the heart and the moment that string snapped your body started to physically ache for it to return.

He should have returned to them sooner.

Isaac and Boyd are both in physical pain from losing a pack member, Lydia is silently grieving over the loss of her best friend while trying to keep a strong face, and Peter is struggling with the burden of having lost yet another family member.

They need an alpha now more than ever but Derek hardly qualifies as an alpha. His red eyes are nothing but a physical change in his appearance. He’s still the same person he’d always been.

He’s just a beta with the eyes of an alpha.

How is he going to do this?

Everything was so much simpler back in that little creek. It was like a little area bubbled away from the real world.

Thinking back to it now Derek realizes he never dwelled on the thought of Laura or the fire or even being alpha during his time there. Stiles always managed to fill the air with his continuous rambling.

Stiles…

Derek can’t believe he was stupid enough to shift in front of _Stiles_ . And it isn’t like he could ever come up with a logical explanation for it because Stiles saw _everything_!

He saw Derek go from human to wolf in a matter of seconds and there’s no way Derek will ever be able to face Stiles again.

It’s weird to think that someone who was a total stranger to him just a few days ago could have managed to become someone so dear to Derek in such a short time. Well- then again they weren’t _total_ strangers. They just… didn’t know that at the time.

Derek still has trouble wrapping his head around the fact that _Stiles_ is _Mieczyslaw_. The little boy that Derek remembered so fondly from his childhood somehow stumbled his way into Derek’s life yet again after so many years.

Mieczyslaw was such a beaming ball of light in a time where Derek felt lost and confused, it’s almost poetic that he found a way to wiggle himself into Derek’s life when everything in his life just seemed to lead to more despair.

But then Derek had to go ahead and ruin all of it with his lack of self control.

Boyd comes to stand beside him. **_‘What happened these last few days? You seem upset.’_ **

**_‘Nothing important.’_ **

He shouldn’t dwell on Stiles anymore. They’ll never cross paths again and he needs to at least _pretend_ to be the alpha his small pack needs him to be.

Before long it’s nightfall and Derek and his tiny pack are surrounding a small fire eating the deer Peter hunted down earlier. They were all in their human forms draped in long fur coats that Lydia used as blankets.

All the wolves would prefer to eat in their wolf forms but Lydia always found it disgusted and refused to let them. Derek didn’t put up much of a fight considering he was used to eating in his human form with Stiles.

They were about to hand over the coats to Lydia and shift into their wolf forms for the night when they caught a whiff of an unknown wolf in the area.

All of them jumped into survival mode.

Peter was already fully shifted into his wolf form, vicious snarls filling the night as his body remained low on the ground, he was ready to attack at any moment.

Boyd and Isaac were both in their partial shifts in similar crouching positions. Boyd was silent but had his eyes zeroing in on any miniscule movement. Isaac was growling, the sound low and threatening coming from deep in his chest, and had his body strung tight in anticipation for what was to come.

Lydia was standing up right, head tilted upward and face set into fierce determination.

They were _not_ going to lose any pack member.

As the smell of the unknown wolf got stronger and the sound of rustling leaves grew louder they were soon able to see the unknown wolf show themselves as they arrived at the clearing near the river.

The wolf was in her human form, her blonde hair was messy and the cloth covering her looked old and tattered. Golden beta eyes scanned all of them before settling on Derek.

“Love the welcome party, best one I’ve seen in years.” she says before turning around and walking back into the forest. “Come on, nightfall doesn’t last forever and I intend to at least get _some_ beauty sleep tonight.”

Derek looks at his pack members in confusion only to be met with expressions of equal or greater bewilderment.

None of them move a muscle.

The unknown wolf turns back to them once she notices they’re not following her. “What? Do you guys not want my pack to help put a stop to those hunters that have been terrorizing wolf packs for years? Specifically _yours_.”

Derek glared at her. What game is she trying to play?

“And why would you do that?”

She gave him a face as if he had asked the dumbest question in all of existence. “Because it’s not just your pack they’re after. They’ve destroyed dozens of packs. Slaughtered countless wolves. Your pack just seemed to have been the one they’ve been focusing on in the last few years but once they’re done with you it won’t be long before they do the same to us.”

She looks Derek dead in the eye. “We’re going to end them before they take any more lives.”

Derek isn’t convinced. “We don’t even know you… and why now? If your pack new the hunters were targeting us then why wait so long? Why not reach out after the fire?”

“Name’s Erica, hello there. Now you know me.” she says with an eye roll. “And as for your questions, I can’t give you those answers. All I know is that mess happened before I was turned. Don’t worry though, your little human will gladly give you all the information you need and if there are still a few blanks here and there then Alpha Satomi will fill it in for you I’m sure.”

“Wait.” Derek must be hearing things. “Stiles is with you?!”

“Uh huh.” she replies without looking back as she starts leading the way through the forest again.

Derek follows.

 

* * *

 

Stiles doesn’t know how he expected Derek to react to seeing him again after what happened, but yelling at him the second they saw each other was not it.

“What do you think you’re doing?!” Derek shouts as he storms over to Stiles. “You’re going to get yourself killed.”

Stiles doesn’t know how to respond to that. “Your foot looks better.”

And it does, Derek’s once bloody open wound is now just a deep scar. Alpha Satomi wasn’t kidding when she said werewolves had rapid healing. And all this time Stiles thought Derek’s fast recovery was because of his magic.

Derek glares at him. “And _you_ look like an idiot. This isn’t your fight Stiles, stay out of it.”

“Isn’t my fight? Are you serious right now?” Stiles scuffed. “Kate literally tried to kill me! She put her scent all over me because she knew if any wolves smelled it then I’d be a goner. If her trying to _murder_ me doesn’t make this my fight then nothing will.”

Derek doesn’t say anything but it’s clear that he isn’t the slightest bit happy with this situation.

“Besides,” Stiles continues, “I’m an essential part of the plan. You’re stuck with me now.”

“How are you an essential part of the plan? You’re not even a wolf.”

Stiles smirks. “Healing isn’t the only thing my magic is capable of big guy.”

“Okay,” says the girl with fiery red hair standing next to a grey wolf, “so what’s the plan?”

Once everyone understands what the plan is and how their part is to be executed it’s time to set the first stage of the plan in motion.

Stiles says his farewells to the members of the Ito and Hale packs with the promise of a quick return before making his way to his tribe’s village grounds.

He only takes a couple of steps when someone grabs him by the wrist, stopping him in his tracks. Stiles turns to see Derek looking at him with what he can only describe as nervous determination.

There’s a few seconds of silence between them but Derek eventually speaks up. “Come back safe.”

Stiles feels the ends of his lips tug upward. “I will.”

The first stage of the plan is by far the easiest and least dangerous part of the operation but Stiles makes sure to be as quiet as a shadow while making his way to the medic hut where he knows Scott tinkers with at night whenever he’s nervous and can’t sleep.

Considering Stiles has been gone for a full day and didn’t return before nightfall like he usually does Stiles is positive Scott is working on some new remedy in the medic hut instead of sleeping.

Stiles’ assumption is right -of course- and Scott nearly screeches when he spots Stiles standing by the medic hut’s opening. Good thing he wasn’t far from the entrance or Stiles wouldn’t have been able to shut him up before he woke up the entire tribe.

When Stiles lets go of him Scott places a hand over his racing heart. “Stiles you almost killed me. Where have you been? The chief is worried sick about you. Kate was ready to start a riot when you didn’t come before nightfall, good thing you’re here man, her and the chief were going to head into the forest tomorrow to find you if you didn’t show up.”

“Just her and my dad? No one else?”

Scott blinked in confusion but answered Stiles’ question anyway. “No, the entire Argent clan would be going with them. Why?”

Stiles looked Scott in the eye. “Scott. I need you to do something for me.” Stiles waited until Scott nodded before continuing. “I need you to find a way to tag along with the Argents and my dad when they go looking for me tomorrow.”

“But you’re right h-”

“No one can know I’m okay.” Stiles announced before Scott could finish his thought. “Everyone needs to think I’m still missing, that I’m still in danger. But you need to be there when they go looking for me. I don’t want my dad to be with the Argents without at least one witness.”

“Witness? Stiles-” Scott sighs, “Stiles what are you talking about?”

Stiles rubs his hand over his face. “It’s a long story.”

Scott crosses his arms and looks at him expectedly. “I’ve got time.”

So Stiles tells Scott everything. From finding Derek to his encounter with Kate to what the Argents have been doing to packs to the plan to just… _everything_.

Scott doesn’t talk for a moment when Stiles finishes explaining. The silence drags on and leaves an air of awkwardness between the two best friends.

“This is crazy.” Scott voices after he soaked in all the information. “I’m in.”

Stiles beamed when he saw that goofy smile on Scott’s face. He knew Scott would have his back.

When Stiles got back to Ito pack territory later that night Derek was the first to approach him.

“Are you okay?” he asked while checking over every inch of Stiles he could see.

Stiles rolls his eyes and pats Derek’s chest. His very firm and muscular chest. Hot damn. “No need to worry big guy, I’m _fine_.”

_Not as fine as Derek though._

Stiles gawked. “Katoa!”

“What’d he say?”

Stiles doesn’t look back at Derek as he answers. “He said you’re nosy and should mind your own business.”

He hears a snort from behind him. “I doubt it. Katoa likes me.”

“He does _not_.” Stiles yell as he turns back to see Derek smirking at him with a very pleased looking fox spirit nuzzled in his arms.

Stiles glares at him. “Traitor.”

 

* * *

 

The next day the plan is in full swing. It took longer than Stiles thought it would to find the search party but then again Satomi’s territory isn’t the closest to his tribe’s grounds.

When they do find them however Stiles is hit with a wave of relief as he spots Scott walking slightly behind his dad.

They wait a bit more before Stiles works his magic and walks out from the cover of the trees.

“ _Stiles_!”

In an instant Stiles finds himself wrapped in his dad’s arms. When his dad pulls away, his hands still gripping Stiles’ shoulders tightly, his face looks down right _murderous_. “What happened? You know I didn’t want you going into the forest with those wolves on the loose and then you disappear for an entire day? Do you have any idea how worried I was?”

He’s pulled back into his dad’s crushing embrace. “I don’t know what I would have done if something happened to you.”

When Stiles steps back from his dad’s embrace and is pulled into yet another hug by Scott -awesome acting skills buddy- he notices the look of surprise in Kate’s eyes.

It’s gone just as fast as it appeared and now Kate was looking at him with exaggerated relief. “Oh Stiles,” she breathed out, “we thought those beasts attacked you.”

Suddenly Stiles found himself enveloped in her arms and a low grown erupted from the nearby trees.

Kate pushes him behind her and grabs her weapon that was previously tied to her waist.

“Wait!” Stiles shouted as he put himself between the Argents and the area from where the growl came from. “Just give me one second, don’t attack.  _Please_.”

No one lowered their weapons, all of them prepared for battle with the exception of Scott who was currently at the very back of the group trying not to be seen.

But none of them were charging for the trees so Stiles took that as a good sign. “Okay, come out Derek.”

A second later a large black wolf emerged from the foliage, eyes glowing blood red and easily standing over 2 feet above Stiles.

Stiles can see his dad gasp at Derek’s stature. He certainly wasn’t imagining something of this magnitude when the Argents sound they were after a pack of large wolves.

Kate sneered at the sight of him. “Stiles what are you doing? Get out of there before that beast hurts you!”

“He’s not going to hurt me.” Stiles states. “And he’s not a beast,” Stiles runs his fingers through Derek’s soft fur, “he’s Derek.”

“It’s a mindless animal!” she snaps. “All it does is kill. Now stand back and let us do what we came here for.”

Stiles steps in front of Derek. “No.”

He can see the fury burning behind her dark eyes but he wasn’t going to back down. She was not going to hurt Derek. Not anymore than she already has. Stiles will make sure of that.

“Stop playing games with me boy. I’ve asked nicely once, I won’t do it again. _Step aside_.”

Stiles doesn’t move. “Derek isn’t a bloodthirst best like you make him and all the other wolves out to be. He’s _human_ , just like the rest of us.”

Behind him he can hear the distinct sound of bones snapping and he can’t help but wonder if that hurts or if Derek and the other wolves are numb to the pain.

His dad and Scott both stare in shock as Derek shifts in front of them and Stiles hears something fall on the ground.

He turns his gaze to see Allison’s wooden bow laying on the grass. Allison herself is frozen, staring at Derek with wide eyes and hands covering her mouth, she was shaking slightly.

Looks like she was the only Argent not fully in the know considering all the others didn’t seem affected by the revelation at all.

“Very cute Stiles, really, that was sweet, but that don’t be fooled by its humanoid face. It’s nothing but a beast.” her eyes were void of all emotion and the sight made Stiles shiver uneasily. “Now, for the last time, _move_.”

Stiles doesn’t.

“Have it your way then.”

Before anyone could even blink a dagger sliced through the air and landed right between Stiles’ eyes.

His eyes closed.

His body fell forward.

He landed with a thud.

Lifeless.

On the forest floor.

That’s when everything erupted in chaos.

Everyone was screaming.

“ _Stiles_!”

“Kate what did you _do_?!”

“You _killed_ him!”

“It was a sacrifice I was willing to make.”

“He was a human! We don’t kill humans!”

“He was getting in the way.”

“He was a _child_!”

“He was an _obstacle_.”

“Aunt Kate how could you do that?!”

“You killed my _son_!”

“Your son deserved it for even thinking that those monsters could have any human bone in their body!”

“He was an innocent Kate!”

“I’m going to _kill_ you.”

“ _Try me_.”

The chief narrowed his eyes dangerously at her and charged.

Someone yanks him back just as he’s about to tackle Kate.

He turns to find Stiles, perfectly okay, smiling at him. “What happened to ‘nothing rush into a fight’?”

The chief is completely dumbfounded and finds himself looking back at the corpse still lying motionless on the ground with Derek kneeling next to it.

That’s when he notices Stiles’ markings are growing a vibrant purple, although the light was slowly dimming.

When he looks back at the lifeless body, he sees both it and Derek start to fade into nothingness.

It was an illusion. Stiles, Derek, all of it, it was an illusion.

The chief has never been more relieved in his life.

_That’s my kit!_

Stiles smiles.

The moment doesn’t last long.

“You think this is over?” Kate scuffs. “Like your little trick made any difference. I’m still going to make sure the Hale Pack ends today and you and your father and even your little friend are all going to die for nothing!”

“Aunt Kate.” Allison whispers as tears stream down her pale face.

Chris glares at her. “I am not killing innocents. It’s against our _code_ Kate.”

“Sometimes rules are meant to be broken _Chris_.” she spats. “If you want to defend the beasts then be my guest. I’ll just have to kill you like one.”

And _that’s_ when all hell breaks loose.

All the wolves that had been previously hiding in the shadows of the forest leaped out and wasted no time in their mission to end the Argent’s reign of terror over them.

The air was filled with growls and snarls and the snapping of jaws and crushing of bones. The screams that echoed after them were full of agony and Stiles couldn’t help the sick feeling of satisfaction he got in knowing that these monsters are getting just what they deserve.

Him and his dad both join in the fight not long after, his father wielding his dual daggers and Stiles relying mostly on his magic with a bit of help from his spear to deliver the finishing blow.

He’s not sure how long they fight but he knows it the Argents were dropping like flies. Each one soon following the fate of the other as they all slowly but surely die a gruesome death at the hands of this battle.

Somehow Stiles ends up fighting against Kate.

Her entire body was splattered with blood -both hers and those of others- and her eyes were crazed and burning with fury as they landed on Stiles.

Stiles likes to think of himself as a good fighter. He has good instincts and fast reflexes. But nothing he had could have ever prepared him for the full fierceness of Kate Argent.

It was like she was a machine whose only purpose was to destroy and kill everything it’s in path.

Eventually Stiles slipped up and left his side open, an easy way for her to dig her dagger into his side and press him up against a tree.

“You have no idea what you just did Stiles.”

She twists the dagger and Stiles screams in pain.

“Those beasts could destroy you any second they feel like it.”

She digs the dagger impossibly deeper into Stiles side and Stiles is gritting his teeth to keep from yelling any more. He doesn’t want to give her the satisfaction of seeing him in so much pain.

“If we don’t kill them first they’ll kill all of us. Our entire species will cease to exist and it’ll be all your fault for trusting those monsters over your own kind.”

Stiles can feel himself getting light headed, he must be losing a lot of blood. It’s hard to keep his eyes open. His vision is getting blurred.

“I hope you enjoy rotting in the underworld.” she whispers and just as Stiles’ eyes begin to close…

The pressure is gone.

There’s still a dagger in his side, he knows that much, but there isn’t the immense pressure of blinding pain that comes from someone digging and twisting said object deeper into his wound.

It takes him a minute to notice Kate is on the ground.

Not moving.

With an arrow going straight through her skull.

Stiles weakly lifts his head to see Allison, tear streaks still on her face and her hand slightly quivering but her face was sit in a firm determination.

He offers her a weak smiles and slowly slides down tree until he’s sitting up against it instead of standing.

Stiles isn’t sure how long he stays there. Everything becomes blurry after that. He can barely back out the sounds of snares and screams that are probably only a few yards away from him.

Eventually, Stiles sees the world shift around him and the numbing coldness he’d started to get used to turned into a blanket of warmth covering him entirely.

Stiles forced himself to glance up and he was greeted by the sight of Derek’s pretty face only inches from his.

Derek’s lips were moving but Stiles was having a hard time making out what he was saying. After a while though, Stiles felt little droplets of water fall onto his face.

Stiles frowned slightly. It wasn’t raining.

“Are you cr’in?”

Derek sniffs. “No, just wondering why you’re such an idiot.”

“Hey!” Stiles tries to shout but he’s pretty sure it didn’t come out any louder than a whisper. “You like ‘is id’ot”

Derek’s body shakes and Stiles is almost completely certain that it was because he was laughing. “Yeah,” Derek whispers, “yeah I do.”

“Does t’is mean you’re go’na k’ss me now?”

More body shaking. Stiles is on a roll.

“Maybe when you’re not on the verge of passing out at any second.”

Stiles grumbles as he feels his body being lifted from the ground. He still feels like his body is completely covered in warmth though, it’s very nice.“Rude.”

Stiles lets his eyes finally droop closed, knowing that he was going to be okay. Derek wasn’t going to let anything bad happen to him.

Before Stiles drifted away and completely disconnected from reality he heard a soft murmur.

“I love you.”

The words brought a tiny smile to Stiles’ lips his last thought before letting the darkness finally take over was,

_I love you too._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's all folks! Thanks so much for readings and don't hesitate to share your thoughts in the comments :3
> 
> Not gonna lie I miiiiiiiigggghhhhhhtttt be tempted to add a little short epilogue in the future. Maybe. Probably not. But maybe.
> 
> ALSO! don’t forget to give your love to **[Hosio](http://hosio.tumblr.com/)** which is the amazing artist behind [**_this breath taking art_**](http://hosio.tumblr.com/post/176188968773/my-contribution-to-this-years-sterek-reverse-bang) I was lucky enough to be matched which for this year’s sterek reverse bang and if you ever want to take a look at my little piece of sterek heaven you can hop on over ** _[here](https://yetanothersterekblog.tumblr.com/)_** for more of my stuff and daily reblogs of incredible sterek content


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